Drivers · 5 min read · 841 words
Who is Kamui Kobayashi?
Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese racing driver who has raced for Toyota in the WEC since 2016 and has also been the team principal of its WEC team since 2022. He has 19 overall WEC wins, 18 poles and 2 24 Hours of Le Mans wins, the first in 2021. In 2017 he set a 3:14.791 in Le Mans qualifying, the fastest qualifying lap in the race's history. In 2026 he still drives the No. 7 Toyota, the car he has raced since 2017.
The Formula 1 years
Kobayashi was born in Amagasaki, Japan, in 1986. He made his Formula 1 race debut for Toyota at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix and raced for Sauber from 2010 to 2012. His best-known result is third place at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the first home podium for a Japanese driver since 1990. He returned to Formula 1 with Caterham in 2014.
Into the WEC
Kobayashi's first WEC season was 2013, in the GTE Pro class with AF Corse's No. 71 Ferrari 458 Italia, mostly alongside Toni Vilander. He started all eight races that year and finished second in class on his debut at Silverstone.
He joined Toyota's LMP1 team in 2016, sharing the No. 6 TS050 Hybrid with Mike Conway and Stéphane Sarrazin. The No. 6 won the 2016 6 Hours of Fuji, Kobayashi's first overall WEC win. He also started the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, the one WEC race the archive does not yet hold.
In 2017 he moved to the No. 7 with Mike Conway. Jose Maria Lopez joined them from the first race, except at Le Mans, where Sarrazin drove the No. 7. Kobayashi, Conway and Lopez stayed together until the end of 2023 and won the 2019-20 and 2021 drivers' world titles. Nyck de Vries took Lopez's regular seat from 2024.
Le Mans
The No. 7 finished second at Le Mans in 2018 and 2019 and third in 2020, each time behind the sister No. 8. In 2021, the first Le Mans for the Hypercar class, Kobayashi, Conway and Lopez won in the GR010 Hybrid, two laps ahead of the No. 8. His second win came in 2026, with Conway and de Vries.
He has started 11 Le Mans races in the archive, which does not include 2016, and finished in the top three in 7 of them.
Poles and fastest laps
Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway share the most overall WEC poles, 18; see the all-time pole list. His best-known qualifying lap is the 3:14.791 from 2017 Le Mans in the TS050 Hybrid, more than two seconds quicker than any other car's best in qualifying that year. That lap came in an earlier qualifying session. WEC Engine's pole rule uses the last qualifying session, which the sister No. 8 topped, so the 2017 Le Mans pole is not part of his 18.
Race fastest laps can be counted two ways. Credited to the car, as for wins, Kobayashi has 25, and the leader on that count is Kamui Kobayashi with 25. Counting only laps he set himself, he has 11. The fastest-laps answer explains both counts.
Team principal
Toyota made Kobayashi principal of its WEC team from 2022, and he kept racing the No. 7. Kazuki Nakajima, who stopped racing after the 2021 season, became vice-chairman of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe at the same time.
Records and milestones
Kobayashi's WEC record as of the 2026 Barcelona round:
- 83 race starts, in the 2013 season and every season since 2016 - 19 overall race wins (the all-time list is headed by Sébastien Buemi with 29) - 45 overall podiums - 18 poles (Mike Conway has 18) - 25 race fastest laps by car credit, 11 set personally - 2 24 Hours of Le Mans wins, the first in 2021 - Drivers' world titles in 2019-20 and 2021 - Toyota WEC team principal since 2022
What is next
Kobayashi races the No. 7 Toyota in 2026 with Conway and de Vries. Because he and Conway share the car, their pole totals, 18 for Kobayashi and 18 for Conway, can rise together.
Last updated · kamui kobayashi · toyota · formula 1 · le mans · hyperpole · wec records